Skittles
by Cylinder
Summary: Black and white. Red and blue. They contrast each other in the perfect way, almost like they were meant to be. Pink and yellow - they clashed. They were supposed to repel, hate, KILL each other. But breaking the rules was just too tempting to bear...


-

**Skittles**

_''I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins..''_

_-_

**Red** and** blue**. They matched, right? Splash the two colours onto a sheet of paper and they fit together perfectly.

**Purple** and **green**. A little bizarre, but they don't clash. Don't collide. They contrast each other in the perfect way, almost like they were meant to be.

**Black **and **white**. Boring. Dull. But they found each other and stick together, ignoring all of the other colours that declare 'they're not real'. One has the other to depend on.

That's how Sakura knew that it wasn't meant to be. **Pink** and **yellow**. It was a sight for sore eyes. They repelled each other, collided, were set against each other so they would never mix – never become one. Because if **pink** and **yellow **came together, the rainbow of colours would break and shatter... right?

~*~

"BASTARD." Sakura yelled at the blonde, who was laughing loudly as his **black** and **red** cape flapped around his ankles. The **pink**-haired kunoichi was pinned to the tree via shuriken that had been infused with the disgusting, gooey mess the man in front of her liked to call clay.

"All's fair in love and war, yeah." Deidara Artaka slowly pondered towards Sakura, taking his sweet time as if to push her that little bit more – to make her anger arise and inspire him. The amount of fury she released whilst she was fighting was an inspiration to him. It made him want to watch huge EXPLOSIONS and listen as the rubble pattered to the floor in the aftermath.

"This is hardly fair. I was walking back from a very tiring mission – which was a FAILURE, by the way – and then you, YOU of all people – the blonde idiot that seems to think his art is amazing – suddenly jumps out on me and tells me that he wants revenge for me killing his partner, " Sakura took a breath and puffed out her chest, leaning forward as much as she could. "WHICH I don't regret. Sasori was a sadistic loser, just like the rest of you Akatsuki." She struggled against the shuriken that held her, wanting nothing more than to escape from Deidara's dirty hands and flee back to the safety of the village. It was a few minutes before she realised that the blonde had turned silent and had stopped walking towards her, his hair hiding his eyes.

"I don't want revenge." His voice was quiet, and different from the mocking tone that he had used before. Sakura stopped struggling to stare at him.

"What?" She asked, wanting to hear him repeat what he had just said. Deidara looked up, his face deadly serious. In moments, he was in front of her, his strong arms on either side of her head. Sakura flinched and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for impact. When it didn't come, she reopened them and found herself staring into two deep pools of **blue**.

"Look at me, yeah. I ran away from my village and now I've ran away from the closest thing to a family I've had in years." He grinned, despite the seriousness of his tone. Sakura found herself softening, although she knew she shouldn't let her guard down around someone like Deidara. She had fought with him once before, a while back, and – she frowned – now that she thought about it, the fight between the two of them seemed like nothing more than a mere training session as both had came out relatively unscathed.

"You left the Akatsuki?" She whispered quietly, shifting her weight from one trapped leg to the other whilst keeping eye contact with Deidara. He nodded and moved his gaze away from Sakura's and to the tree just above her head.

"I want to make explosions. Explosions that will make people gape with awe, yeah." He spoke with a dream-like tone that sort of suited his character. His eyebrow twitched almost as if he was in pain. He brought his eyes back to Sakura's. "Not run away in fear."

He noticed the confused, slightly scared expression on her face.

"Why do I need to know this? I'm your enemy." Sakura spoke with slight harshness, but Deidara knew she was just curious. He lifted a hand from the tree to run it through his **golden** hair, keeping eye contact with Sakura the whole time.

"How should I know? It's been three months and I haven't seen one familiar face. Just so happens that you were walking past and I felt like talking, yeah." Sakura stiffened. An S-rank criminal - who was now an ex-member of the most deadly organisation in the history of the shinobi world – wanted to talk to her? The one kunoichi who had been pushed away by her friends after she had healed Sasuke's older brother, simply because Sasuke had begged her to? Tsunade had told her that she was a lucky girl. The punishment for healing two S-rank criminals meant a death sentence and she had only just managed to get out of it.

And yet here she was, still trying to stay loyal to her village while people like Deidara wandered free, able to travel where they liked.

"It's difficult to have a civilised conversation when one of the participants happens to be pinned to a tree." Sakura commented, feeling very uncomfortable at the personal space Deidara had just invaded. The blonde's lips twitched and he rested his forehead against hers, staring intently at her eyes.

"Well now, I'm pretty sure we can have a nice conversation with or without the shuriken."

She frowned, knowing that she should be disgusted that his sweaty brow was pressed against her own sweaty brow. But in a way, it felt right. She wondered what they looked like from the outside – from another person's point of view.

"I'm sure civilised conversations with the enemy aren't allowed." Sakura told herself more than Deidara. She would love to kick the arrogant blonde's arse, yet at the same time it felt pleasant being treated relatively nicely by someone who had such a big mouth. He removed his forehead from hers and dropped his head slightly, as though he was looking at his shoes. Then he inclined his head back up toward her a little and an evil smile spread across his lips.

"Afraid to break the rules, blossom?" He tormented her. He knew she wouldn't back down from a challenge, even if that challenge meant breaking rules that she may have set herself. He observed the way her eyebrow twitched and the frustration that crossed her face.

"I won't talk to you unless you get these off me." Deidara rolled his eyes at the girls' persistence. He stared at her in thought for a few moments.

"Alright. On one condition, yeah." He grinned. "You give me your word you won't attempt to escape, kill me or kill yourself."

Sakura snorted. "Like the last one would ever happen. I love my life way too much to do that."

Deidara's grin wavered. He didn't like that. The sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable. Was the fiery girl he had fought all those months back suffering from a bout of self-pity? He studied her for a moment, observing the way her eyes were staring sadly at the ground and the curve of her eyebrows, giving her an expression of sadness.

He raised his eyes to her delicate wrists and was shocked to find a deep scar on each one. Deep enough to kill.

He took the shuriken off of her, replaced the clay in his pockets and continued to stare at her as she rubbed at her wrists, either abashedly trying to hide the scars or just easing tension.

She knew he had noticed. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she had made the sarcastic comment that she had so stupidly made. It was strange – something had changed between the two shinobi. It was like they weren't enemies anymore. Just two normal people, suffering from tragic memories and regrets. Two vibrant colours that glow in the sunlight, but when examined closely, the colour that had once made the two shinobi bright was beginning to dull, as though the lights inside them were slowly switching off...

~*~

"You don't seem like the kind of girl that would do that sort of stuff, yeah." Deidara and Sakura were seated by a river, a fire crackling in front of them, emitting deep shades of **orange**, **red** and **yellow**. The sun was close to the setting peak and a dull **orange** was slowly beginning to illuminate the two shinobi. Sakura smiled sadly and poked at the fire with a stick, her knees pulled up to her chest and her other arm holding them in place.

"When you've lost everything, the last thing you have to lose is yourself." Sakura looked up. "That's what I think anyway."

Deidara stared at the **pink**-haired woman for a moment, admiring the way the fiery glow made her pale skin a delightful colour and shone on her **fuchsia** coloured hair. He stared up at the sky with her, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning on his arms behind him.

"That's not very positive, yeah. In fact, it's pretty pathetic." He couldn't help but smile to himself when out of the corner of his eyes, the girls head snapped towards him.

"Oh, yeah? I don't see you trying to do anything to fix your crappy life." Sakura retorted, puffing out her cheeks angrily as though stropping like a child. Deidara scrambled up onto his knees and crawled over to Sakura.

"Are you... pouting?" He laughed loudly when Sakura slapped him away, threatening him with the stick.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't kill me, yeah!" Deidara protested, holding his hands up in innocence and showing the small mouths that were sported on them. Sakura moved her head down, so the arm holding her knees hid her mouth. Deidara watched her for a few moments, before moving forward to sit closer to her. He noticed her freeze up, but he ignored it.

"I've lost a whole lot, but I still have my art, yeah. Beauty is fleeting..." He spoke the last part as though it were a poem and Sakura lifted her head to stare at the man she should have been killing. She hated to admit it, but it was nice. Sitting down and talking to an enemy and seeing the world from their point of view.

"Beauty is fleeting, yeah." Deidara said it again with more determination and brought his eyes down to Sakura when he noticed that she was observing him. "You can't expect it to be perfect all the time, right? Sometimes, you just gotta enjoy the good bits while you can, yeah." Proud with his exclamation, he smiled happily and laid down on the soft grass, staring up as the fiery **orange** slowly became more and more darker as the sun set. He didn't notice Sakura lay down beside him.

"Enjoy the little things..." She said softly to herself, placing her hands behind her head and watching the dark **orange** turn to **blue**, then **black**. She watched as the soft twinkle of the stars sent her into a dream-like state. It was a while before either of them spoke again.

"So, why'd you do it, yeah?"

She was silent for a moment, pondering whether or not she should reveal her secrets to an S-rank criminal. But, thinking about it, it made more sense to reveal it to someone who will probably never see her again, instead of to a person who would be likely to see her every day.

"I already told you. When you've lost everything, the only thing to lose is yourself." She spoke quietly and awaited the blonde's response.

"What about that irritating, loud-mouthed kid? The one we tried to steal before the statue broke, yeah?"

Sakura felt a familiar sadness begin to flow through her, but she pushed it down. Speaking about things made you feel better. She had learned about that when Tsunade had gone through the psychological healing training.

"I told him we couldn't talk to each other anymore. After I tried to-" She hesitated, taking a deep breath and controlling her emotions. "I figured the only way for me not to get hurt again, was to keep everyone at a distance. If that meant keeping away from the most important person in my life, then so be it."

She heard rustling beside her and thought that Deidara must have been moving into a more comfortable position. She sat up to see what he was doing, but was clobbered around the head. She yelled and her hands went up to massage where she had just been assaulted.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" She shouted, still rubbing at the sore area. She moved her hands away and lifted her head to stare angrily at Deidara. She hadn't realised he had gotten so close and found herself almost nose to nose with him.

"You're an idiot, yeah." He said, almost seriously. "I don't know how someone like you managed to kill Sasori, yeah."

She scowled at him, cracking her knuckles. "Care to explain WHY I'm such an idiot?"

Deidara seemed unperturbed by the obvious threatening tone in her voice and continued with his scolding. "Trying to kill yourself 'cos you haven't got anything, yeah. It's your fault you haven't got anything in the first place, you just gave up."

Sakura's hands stopped moving and she stared hard at Deidara, analysing what he had just said. She hadn't given up, had she? No. It wasn't her fault that she was suddenly being spat upon for healing an enemy to Konoha. She was just doing what she believed in.

Deidara moved forwards and she shuffled backwards, until her back came into contact with a tree trunk. He replaced his arms either side of Sakura's head, just like before.

"You seem to enjoy being close to me." She whispered. The blonde smiled and placed one of his knees either side of Sakura's outstretched legs so he could get closer.

"Think about it for a minute, yeah."

Well, she would think about it if he wasn't so damn close to her. His breath fanning across her lips was off-putting in a weird, stomach-churning way.

She thought – just like he said – and realised. Realised that he was right. Naruto and the rest of her genin teammates had understood why she had done it. Ino had even attempted to comfort her at one point and she had done nothing but push her away in return, thinking that she was just trying to be sympathetic to her situation. Kakashi had offered to eat out with her, too. She had turned him down, seeing the disgust that wasn't really there in his eyes. Lee had given her flowers. She threw them away, thinking there was a hidden meaning, like they were the flowers that were supposed to be on Itachi's grave, if it weren't for her healing. Kiba had asked on her on a date. She thought he was being sarcastic. Shizune offered to go shopping with her. She had thought Shizune had been ordered to offer from Tsunade. Two years, she had behaved that way. She was twenty-one years old and had no friends, due to her own self-pity and stubbornness.

Deidara noticed the realisation that had spread across her face and the tears that had managed to fill her empty eyes. Slowly, he pulled her away from the tree and sat on the floor, moving her onto his lap where she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried.

~*~

Sakura screwed her eyes shut tighter as a bright light seeped through the cracks, causing her to wince painfully. Her top half was lying on something soft, warm and nice-smelling. It smelt like smoke with a hint of orange. It was breathing. And stroking her hair.

She opened her eyes a crack and looked up at Deidara, who grinned sleepily down at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She didn't jump away in fear or shock. Nor was she horrified that her enemy had been her mattress for the night. Right now, she didn't class him as an enemy.

"Morning, Sakura."

Woah. That was weird. Did someone just walk over her grave? The shiver that ran down her spine was quite frightening. She frowned at the blonde, her arms keeping her upper body off of his and placed either side of his chest.

"Since when were we on name terms?" She hesitated. "Since when did you know my name?"

Deidara grinned, pushing himself into a sitting position, causing Sakura to move backwards so she didn't end up in a tangled mess with him.

"I make it a priority to know the names of the people who are trying to kill me, yeah. Just like you know the names of your targets, Sakura."

She flinched at the chill that coursed through her. "Don't say my name." She stood up and headed over to the **blue**, clean river that flowed a few metres away from their current position. She heard Deidara get to his feet and follow her.

"Why not? Do you like it when I say your name, Sa-ku-ra?" He spoke her name slowly, dragging out each syllable. She closed her eyes, telling her to breathe and for her heart to stop beating so fast. She was coming down with something. She HAD been spending the past week out in the forest.

"Not a chance, De-i-dara." She bent down at the river and splashed cold water on her face, feeling refreshed and hydrated. Deidara watched her clean, admiring the way her limbs moved so gracefully, even when she was just scrubbing at her skin. After she finished, she stood up, stretching her aching arms high above her head. She wasn't aware when her **red** top slid up, revealing a smooth patch of pale skin. Of course, it wasn't like she was trying to reveal any of herself to Deidara – her limbs just ached from the rough night.

Deidara knew she was doing it on purpose. There was no way she would have done such a provocative move without intentionally making sure that her arms were positioned just right so that – not only did her pale stomach show – but her cleavage was substantially increased.

He turned away.

"Just how long do you plan on staying with an S-rank criminal? You're in enough trouble as it is, yeah." Deidara spoke with a disturbed tone – almost concerned. Sakura brought her arms back down to her sides and stared at his back, wondering why he seemed so serious all of a sudden. Had he regretted talking to her and revealing too much of his real personality? The tone of his voice was something that did not please Sakura in the slightest.

"If you want me to leave, I'll go. It's not like I'm hanging around because I want to. I'm here till you get fed up of me." She replied with an equally serious tone and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "If I try to leave, you'll just engage me and combat and to be honest, I'm really not in the mood to fight."

Deidara ignored her. He was too busy thinking through what he was supposed to do now. It was his own fault he was in such a difficult position. But, when he saw the beautiful kunoichi, he had the urge to speak to her. Speak to a familiar face – whether it be enemy or not. And now, he actually found himself enjoying her company. How was he supposed to tell her he wanted her to leave?

He was brought back to reality when he was suddenly shoved sideways, causing him to tumble into the shallow river next to him. When he had regained his composure, he sat up in the water and glared at the girl who was now staring angrily at him.

"When I talk to someone, I don't like to be ignored." Sakura had her hands on her hips and was glaring furiously at him. He scowled back, struggling onto his feet with difficulty, now that the Akatsuki cloak – that he had kept simply because it was warm – was now adding three times the amount of weight onto him. He took it off and threw it onto the side of the bank.

Sakura knew she had made a mistake. Deidara was dripping wet, from head-to-toe, and looked very, very unhappy. He had taken his cloak off and she couldn't help but observe the way the plain **black** t-shirt he wore underneath fit every inch of his chest, which seemed a lot less muscled and toned then other guys. As her mind began to drift to what he would look like without it, she found a hand had wrapped around her wrist and then she was being dragged into the river along with Deidara.

When she managed to stumble back onto her feet, she glowered at the blonde, who now had a big grin planted on his face.

"What goes around comes around, yeah." He was finding Sakura highly amusing. Her **pink** hair was now dripping and the **red** clothing that she wore had turned blood **red**, contrasting with the angry blush that had spread across her face. Why was she blushing?

"I can break every bone in your body with the poke of a finger. Messing with me is really not a good idea, especially when a certain blonde has riled my temper to the point of no return."

Deidara arched an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to be impressed, yeah?"

She let out a scream of frustration and lunged for him, forgetting that they were in a river. A fight commenced.

Deidara laughed and dodged the punch that she had thrown at him, moving backwards and being careful to keep a sturdy grip on the rocks underneath his shoes. Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out two kunai, throwing one at his head and the other at his feet. He dodged them both. He then began to tease her, pulling a face. But his footing suddenly became uneasy and he ended up as a tangled mess on the floor. He cursed, lifting his arms up to place behind his back so he was sitting up, able to get a view of Sakura in case she tried incapacitating him whilst he was in the river.

He was surprised to see that she had a hand over her mouth, giggling hysterically. He let out a puff of breath, causing his fringe to lift into the air for a second. Sakura stopped laughing and smiled at him, stepping forwards with her hand outstretched.

"Nice to see you can laugh, yeah." He commented, reaching up to grasp her hand. Instead of hauling himself up, he yanked at her arm and sent her down to the floor alongside him. He flipped so that he laid on top of her.

She was scowling at him, but the smile was still on her face. "I never thought I'd see an Akatsuki member fall over in a river."

Deidara moved his head down so his forehead rested against hers, like he had done the day before.

"Ex-Akatsuki member. And I never thought I'd see you laugh. It seemed all you were able to do was frown, yeah."

"It was the first time I've laughed in two years." She said, sadly. Deidara's smile wavered for a moment and he lifted his forehead off of hers. They stared at each other for a few moments, then he lifted a hand from one side of her head to brush away the hair that had stuck to her forehead.

"Two enemies, born to fight against each other. One wants explosions. The other wants death. We make quite a pair, yeah." Deidara grinned down at Sakura, who seemed to have been staring seriously at him for a good few minutes.

There it was again. That... fissure. Like electricity in the air, reacting between her and Deidara. She had realised it before and it kept returning. It was strange. Along with the electricity – she moved her gaze down to his lips – came the urge... to kiss.

Deidara noticed the direction which her gaze had switched to. She couldn't want to... Did she want to kiss him? He moved his own gaze down to her lips. Or, more importantly, did he want to kiss her?

He moved his hand down to her cheek and brushed his knuckles against it, relishing in the silky texture as it brushed against his own rough skin. He moved his hand so it cupped her cheek and he didn't notice he was moving closer to her face until her sweet breath seemed to fan against his lips. His eyes had instinctively closed half-way and his nose was brushing against hers. Their lips just barely brushed each other, yet both of the shinobi seemed to be breathing heavily, awaiting the contact.

Sakura was mind-blown. She didn't know what had made Deidara suddenly come onto her like he had, but right now, she was way past complaining. Her head wasn't able to form a straight sentence and the unbearable chill that she had felt earlier today was back and twice as bad.

"Sakura?" Deidara's voice was husky and barely more than a whisper. She opened her mouth, trying to exhale some of the oxygen that she had taken in. This sent a shiver down Deidara's spine and he moved his hand from her cheek, back down to the ground at the side of her head. Then he leant forwards so their lips were even closer to contact.

"Hm?" She replied, only just remembering to answer the questioning tone in which he had said her name. He moved his head so it was beside her own and brought his mouth down to her right ear, his breath blowing against the shell of it. Her heart began to beat rapidly.

"This ain't a good idea, yeah." He warned her. Sakura's stomach churned. He was right. If they became too attached... she wouldn't be able to let him go. She'd known him for almost a day, for Kami's sake. How was it that she had become so close to him? She thought for a moment. It was their similarities. They both had problems and both needed a stranger to confide in. It wasn't a good idea to get so close to someone who was supposed to be her enemy. There were thousands of reasons for them not to kiss – not to get emotionally involved.

One of them was that they were in a river and getting very, very, wet.

"Damn it, Deidara." She whispered to him. He chuckled softly into her ear and pulled away slowly, standing up in the river and holding a hand out for Sakura to grab. She took it and he pulled her up, a little more forceful than necessary so that she ended up with her arms slung around his waist. He pulled her into an unexpected hug.

"This is weird, yeah." He laughed softly into her hair and she smiled to herself sadly. He was right, it was strange. Two enemies, hugging in the middle of a shallow river and just generally enjoying each other's company. Sakura tightened the grip on Deidara's t-shirt, pulling herself closer into his embrace and rubbing his nose against his chest. He smelled delicious, felt warm and her eyes began to tear up at the thought that she was receiving comfort from someone who she was supposed to be killing. It was like Romeo and Juliet all over again.

"I want to leave." She whispered to him. She ignored when he went rigid and tired to avoid eye contact when he hastily released her. He actually looked sort of hurt that she had said it, but in his mind, she knew that he knew it was right. He nodded and attempted a grin.

"It was nice talking to you, Sakura Haruno." He bowed mockingly and leaped out of the river, grasping his cloak from the bank and then strolling off in the opposite direction. Sakura watched after him, her feet still bathing in the water. Before she could be tempted to call after him, she clambered up the bank and wrapped her arms around herself, picking up her effects from the ground and kicking at the fire they had made the night before. Was she making a mistake, leaving Deidara? No. She was a Konoha shinobi, loyal to her village and-

_And lacking a boyfriend. _Her inner self contributed. Despite the grave situation, Sakura snorted to herself. The amusement soon wore off as she left the place she and Deidara had spent the night. Slowly, she lifted a hand to her lips and wondered. Wondered what it would have been like if they HAD kissed. Two strangers, kissing after the first night of their meeting. Well, sort of anyway.

She wondered. Would a kiss have meant that walking away from the arrogant, loud-mouthed blonde would be twice as hard as it already was?

**5 months later...**

"SAKURA!" Sakura turned at the sound of her name and found herself staring at the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja. She smiled.

"Hey, Naruto. Any news on Sasuke?"

Naruto grinned and placed both of his hands behind his head. "Yup. Sasuke and Itachi are living somewhere on the outskirts of Fire Country. Apparently Sasuke's found himself a girl called Karin and the two are gonna live happily ever after once Tsunade has put through the full-pardon for him and his brother." He brought his arms down from behind his head and looked at her seriously. "It's unbelievable that after all Sasuke's been through, he finds out that Itachi was _ordered_ to kill his clan. I guess they sorted everything out though, 'cos Itachi left Akatsuki and seems quite happy with Sasuke."

Sakura smiled, happy that everything had turned out alrigtht. As soon as the truth about Itachi had been revealed by the elders, the people of Konoha had suddenly become extremely apologetic towards her. She had healed an innocent man who would have died were it not for her swiftness. It was good to know the reason behind Sasuke's begging too. She was extremely confused when she had happened upon the two, with Sasuke almost in tears over his brothers dying body. Yet she had asked no questions and had done what Sasuke asked.

She smiled to herself. The two Uchiha legends would be in debt to her now.

"So, how you doin' Sakura?" Naruto asked herm cautiously. She turned to him in surprise.

"Why? Would something be wrong with me?"

Naruto looked her in the eyes, as though searching for something more than just her attention.

"Ever since you came back from your first failed mission five months back, you've just not been... who you used to be." He laughed nervously and placed one hand behind his head, smiling slightly. "You came back and suddenly started apologising to everyone. It freaked us out."

Sakura smiled, a familiar blonde figure appearing in her mind. Along with the image came a wave of sadness and pain, so she pushed it to the back of her head.

"I met someone on the way back from the mission. We talked for a while and he told me that I was an idiot. That I'd just given up." She smiled at Naruto. "I thought of you, you know. You never give up. I learnt firsthand what it was like to be pushed and shunned by people in village and not once did it cross my mind that you'd been through the same thing." She shrugged at the proud smile that had crossed Naruto's face. "He also said I've got to enjoy the good things while I can." Her lips twitched upwards. "Beauty is fleeting, he said."

She caught sight of her watch and covered her hand with her mouth. "Crap, I'm gonna be late." She turned and waved at Naruto behind her, while she scurried away. "See you later, Naruto!"

Naruto waved back, grinning happily at Sakura. Whoever she met on the way back from that mission sure seemed like a nice guy. And he had obviously managed to knock some sense into Sakura without getting pounded to a pulp.

He turned and headed off towards the ramen shop, humming happily to himself and grinning at familiar faces as he strolled by them. Then he stopped. _"Beauty is fleeting, he said..."_

He'd heard that said by someone before. Was it a popular quote? He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice when he bumped into a tall figure.

"Sorry-" He began, then his face lit up. "Kakashi-sensei!"

The **silver**-haired jonin moved the **orange** book away from his face for a moment, oblivious to the fact he had just been walked into.

"Oh. Hey Naruto."

"Wanna catch some ramen with me?" The blonde grinned happily, his eyes crinkling up. His sensei stared at him for a few moments.

"Sure, why not."

Naruto cheered and grasped onto Kakashi's jacket, dragging him into the Ichiraku ramen bar that was just opposite the two. Kakashi and Naruto slid onto their stools.

"The usual!" Naruto cheered happily. Teuchi smiled at the loud boy, and nodded in greeting to Kakashi, who nodded back. While they were waiting for their meal, Kakashi didn't fail to realise that Naruto's usual hyperactive manner had sunk into a thinking one.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, still reading his book in one hand.

"_Beauty is fleeting..._ Where's that from?" Naruto asked, looking up questionably at Kakashi. The **silver**-haired jonin's stare suddenly became hardened.

"Deidara Artaka. The ex-member of Akatsuki. He once said it to us during a fight, before attempting to blow us to pieces."

Naruto fell off his chair. Kakashi frowned in confusion and leaned backwards, staring at the boy who was now lying on the floor.

"DEIDARA? SAKURA WAS TALKING TO DEIDARA?!" Naruto leapt to his feet and slung himself back onto the stool, placing his head in hands. Kakashi was alarmed.

"What do mean?" He asked, enquiring Naruto further. The boy looked positively horrified.

"Sakura told me she was talking to a person on the way back from her mission. He was the one that had knocked some sense into her. The one that persuaded her to talk to us all again." Naruto looked up to meet his sensei's eyes. They were full of just as much surprise as Naruto's.

"Sakura was conversing with an S-rank criminal?" Kakashi asked, his voice a little higher than usual. Naruto nodded quickly. They were both acting like two school girls talking about how their third friend had cheated on a boyfriend.

"That's not the worst of it. You should have seen the expression on her face when she talked about him. It was the happiest I'd seen her in ages." Naruto looked distraught. Kakashi was feeling sick. But they weren't angry at Sakura – no, quite the opposite. They were just struggling with the fact that Sakura – perfect Sakura, whose one mistake in life was the worst one – had broken almost a hundred rules, just by speaking to that one person. She had stopped trying to regain everyone's respect by completing as much missions as possible – when she had come back from the mission – and had instead, taken two weeks' worth of leave and sorted everything out between her and her friends. Just because of Deidara.

"Well, we can't prove anything yet. Someone else just might have found that particular saying quite catchy." Kakashi spoke calmly, although he knew he was only saying it to reassure himself. Sakura had been with them for five months since that mission, so there was no chance of her running to join forces with the likes of Deidara.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and Kakashi gathered that he had had the same thought. Teuchi placed the ramen down in front of the two men, smiling happily at them before turning around to clean up. Naruto lifted up noodles with his chopsticks and paused, before saying;

"It's Sakura. If anyone knows what's right and what's wrong, it's her."

~*~

Sakura hurried into her teacher's office the moment the minute hand struck 5. Tsunade was seated behind her desk, awaiting Sakura's presence. When Sakura arrived, Tsunade smiled and smacked the desk with both of hands.

"Alright! Onto the mission description." Tsunade stood up and leaned over, handing the slip of paper into Sakura's hands.

"There's a missing-nin that's been wandering around in a village north-east of here, causing havoc in several shops. He's from the Village Hidden in the Mist and has been known to carry some sort of explosive with him. I want you to take him out by whatever means necessary." Tsunade held a warning tone to her voice. Sakura shuddered. 'Whatever means necessary' usually meant that seduction was no doubt a last resort. This mission couldn't fail.

"Why me?" Sakura asked, frowning slightly. Tsunade smiled and walked around to the front of her desk, leaning backwards onto it and crossing her arms.

"I think you need to get out of the village for a while. It's been five months since your last mission and although I'm glad you've turned yourself around-" Tsunade glanced at the scars on Sakura's wrists. "I just think you need to go let off some steam."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, Lady Tsunade." She turned quickly to leave the office, glad that she had prepared for a mission before she had left her apartment this morning. She had a feeling that Tsunade would have sent her out on a mission sooner or later.

"Oh, and Sakura?" Sakura turned. Tsunade smiled grimly. "Be careful."

Sakura smiled and nodded in return, before hurrying down the stairs and out into the fresh air. She inhaled, her tense shoulders easing up. She was thankful for the mission for she really did need a little freedom. But... her face contorted into an expression of slight sadness. She didn't want to risk bumping into _him. _She forced herself to keep walking and threw her **green** rucksack over her shoulder and onto her back. She had given up wearing her usual **red** outfit and had settled on a tight, **black** shinobi t-shirt and a pair of trousers that were similar to Shikamaru's. Her short hair was tied at the back of her hair in a messy bun and a pair of gloves that once belonged to Kakashi now covered her hands. Her style changed with her life.

"Hey, Sakura." Sakura stopped walking and smiled at Naruto, who was leaning against the wall outside the Hokage building, clearly waiting for her. She smiled and nodded.

"I got my first mission in five months. Neat, huh?" She said, her rosy lips turning upwards the edges. Naruto didn't answer hyperactively as he usually would. Instead, he moved off of the wall and walked towards her, placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

"Sakura, you can stop forcing the smiles. I know you're not happy." He spoke seriously, his **cerulean **eyes piercing her own **jade** coloured orbs. **Blue** and **green**. The colours of the ocean.

Sakura stared back, searching Naruto's eyes for the reason to his assumption. They revealed nothing but determination.

"What makes you think-"

"Sakura, I know your smiles. When you were thirteen-years-old your smiles were bright and happy whenever you looked at Sasuke. At the age of nineteen, a month before the Itachi incident, you were smiling with Ino in front of the flower shop, when you'd gotten past your differences and comforted each other after the death of both your parents. You smiled all the time. I know when you're faking it." He shook her shoulders a little. "Yesterday, when you were speaking about that guy... you were smiling, Sakura. You were the happiest I'd ever seen you. He made you happy, Sakura. I tried to make you smile like that for five years and I never could. It took him a day." He stared hard at her. "Think about it."

And with that, Naruto dropped his hands from her shoulders and turned away, leaving Sakura to stand in front of the Hokage's building, her eyes brimmed with sick tears and a gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach that – those five months ago – she had walked away from the one thing that had made her really, truly happy.

~*~

_Darn it, false lead. _Sakura had made it to the correct village and had been waiting outside the one store that had been pointed as the next target for the missing-nin. How the person had got the information, she didn't know, but it appeared to have been a lie. Two hours, she had been waiting outside the shop and not one person – let alone shinobi – had entered. It was beginning to get late and she wanted to go back to her room at the lodge and sleep off the emotional trauma she had suffered only hours ago. But Tsunade wanted this missing-nin taken out and she didn't want to let her teacher down.

She sighed, standing from her crouching position in the trees and stretching her limbs. She would try again tomorrow. She was mid-thought when a cloth bag was pulled over head and she screamed, instinctively bringing her hands up to the arms that had wrapped around her neck.

"Keep quiet girl." A blade was pressed threateningly against her heart and she stopped struggling. Instead, she focused her chakra to her foot. But it didn't work.

"My specialty. I block the person's chakra channels with a single touch. Nice, huh?" She didn't like the sound of the mans voice and certainly wasn't happy with the fact that his arm seemed to be wandering further down her chest as he dragged her along the road. She heard him knocking at a door and attempted to squirm away while they weren't moving, but the man just replaced the kunai above her heart.

"Stop it." He barked. Sakura heard the door open and she was thrown inside, picked up and placed into a chair. The cloth bag was pulled from her head and she opened her eyes, only to have a blindfold to replace it. She inhaled all of the oxygen she had lost while the bag had covered her head and struggled against the bindings that were now being placed on her arms. The jutsu she had been placed under required a release, but her hands were tied far away from each other.

"I got this one guys. Leave her to me." A familiar voice said. A number of people grumbled and she listened as the door opened and closed several times before leaving the room quiet. She felt a presence of chakra suddenly drop from the room and she went rigid, knowing that being alone in a room with a man was not a very good position.

"Long time no see, Sa-ku-ra."

Her heart thumped. No...

"Amazing, yeah. I guess Fate must have taken a shining to the two of us, right?" She knew it. There was no doubt now. Deidara was in a room, alone with her, while she was blindfolded. Not even the strongest genjutsu in the world could fake Deidara's voice.

"Deidara." Her voice was sturdy and demanding. "It'd be nice if you could get me out of these."

She felt a sudden rush of warmth really close to her face and she knew that he was inches away from her own.

"Naaah. I think I like seeing you like this, yeah."

She hissed at him and attempted to collide her own forehead with his, but he moved away before she could. A few seconds later, the warmth appeared in front of her face again. Not only that, but a hand had moved to the back of her neck and was playing with the tendrils that had come undone from the bun. The mouth on the hand licked her neck.

She gasped, both in shock and because the action had made her tremble.

"Deidara..." She pined, her voice filled with annoyance, sadness, excitement and happiness. Just one word and the blonde's resolve had crumbled.

"I know, yeah." He whispered, before bringing his lips down to hers. She was surprised at first, as she hadn't thought he would kiss her so gently, let alone kiss her at all. But after a few seconds, she had turned to jelly. His lips moved across hers in a fluid movement and both of his hands had come up to behind her neck, tilting her head in the opposite direction in order for him to kiss her deeper. She groaned, annoyed that her hands were not free to run through his hair and her eyes unable to see. She felt Deidara smirk against her lips and he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, teasing her as she opened her mouth to allow him in. But instead of deepening the kiss even more, he moved his hands to the bindings that held her in the chair and the mouths bit them off, allowing her to stand from the chair, but keeping her hands firmly binded behind her back. He lifted her from the chair with his strong hands, allowing the mouths to nip her thighs gently as he moved them so they were wrapped around his waist. Sakura whimpered and pressed herself into him, frustrated that her hands still weren't in use. She broke off the kiss.

"Deidara, I swear to God, if you don't take these off me-" She stopped, biting her lip and tilting her head back as Deidara made his mouths gently lick the sides of her hips in a circular movement. "I swear to God, I'm really going to hurt you."

Deidara laughed and closed the distance between them again, relishing in the power he had over the kunoichi.

"I'd like to see you try with those bindings on, yeah."

She growled in the back of her throat and Deidara walked forwards, pushing her against the wall so she was sturdier. He moved his head down to her neck and gently nipped and kissed the sensitive spots. Her breath hitched and Deidara noticed the frown on her face as she arched into him.

"Won't your men want to come in and check on you?" She whispered huskily. Deidara chuckled against her neck, rubbing his nose along it.

"They won't interrupt me when they hear the noises coming from here, yeah."

Sakura went rigid. "What noises?"

Deidara smirked to himself. "You'll see."

~*~

The men that surrounded the table, awaiting their cards to be dealt, flinched again as a groan echoed around the room. They grimaced.

"Sir seems to be having a whale of a time." One of them grumbled disappointingly. The rest nodded in agreement, highly disturbed at the sounds coming from the other room. They all jumped when a quiet scream bounced off of the walls and down to them. They looked at each other worriedly.

"I don't think Sir can scream that high." One of the little bandits commented. The other missing-nin smirked humourlessly.

"I guess our captive seems to be enjoying herself too."

~*~

"Sakura, when I said that the missing-nin needed to be taken out by whatever means necessary, I did not mean to literally _take them out_. A week I didn't hear from you. A whole week. So when I sent Ino and her team along to see if you were still alive, you could guess I was pretty shocked at the news I got. You found the missing-nin. Who was actually Deidara Artaka under a genjutsu." Tsunade sighed. "And you were hugging in public." She looked up at the **pink**-haired kunoichi, who had began to blush cherry **red **in the company of Team Ino and her teacher. The Hokage sighed and ran a hand through her hair, ruffling up her blonde fringe.

"What am I going to do with you, Sakura Haruno?"

Sakura looked at her teacher and smiled, reaching up behind her head and untying the **pink **headband that had sat across her head. She outstretched her hands, showing Tsunade the headband in her hands and the scars along her wrists.

"I'm your student, Lady Tsunade. I was supposed to follow in your footsteps. You've taught me well in the medic department, and taught me everything there is to know about the shinobi world. But you didn't teach me about love. Konoha doesn't hold anything for me now. My future isn't here; it's out there." Sakura smiled sadly at her teacher and brought one hand up to her headband, infusing one finger with chakra and drawing a clean slice through the Konoha emblem. She ignored the gasps from Ino and Chouji behind her. Shikamaru just sighed.

"I'll become a missing-nin in order to spend my life with an S-rank criminal, who understands me better than anyone in this world can," Sakura lifted the headband to her forehead instead of her skull cap and fastened it behind her neck, "and I won't come back to Konoha. Not unless you really need me."

Her teacher's eyes were shining, but they didn't seem sad. They weren't remorseful. They were almost proud.

"I've broken the rules, so either way I'm out of the village. You can't cover my butt forever." Sakura winked and threw a peace sign at her teacher. "I'll see you around." And she disappeared in a flutter of cherry blossom leaves.

~*~

The moment she reappeared in the forest, she was pulled into a strong embrace by Deidara. It was like he knew, even before she would appear, that the tears would be flowing.

"You didn't have to do this for me, yeah." Deidara whispered into her hair, inhaling her scent. Sakura sniffed and clutched onto the man's plain **black **robes tighter.

"I'd be more miserable if I didn't." She lifted her head up to smile at Deidara, who grinned in return. He pulled her into a hug again.

"Romeo and Juliet without the sad ending, yeah." Deidara joked to her. Sakura let out a short laugh and huddled closer to him. It had been difficult saying goodbye to Naruto and Kakashi, but they seemed to understand her reasoning. Sort of. She had told them she would visit from time to time, but only swiftly as the participants of the Leaf Village would be angry if they discovered a missing-nin from their own village visited regularly and their Hokage was doing nothing about it.

"You know, **pink **and **yellow** don't really go well together." Sakura pulled back from Deidara and crinkled her nose. He smiled and held out a clenched hand. She watched and he slowly unclenched it, and a clay model of a beautiful flower rested in it. She looked at it in awe.

"It's a **golden** marinka **fuchsia**." He grinned and threw it into the air above them, where it exploded into tiny, sparkling fragments. Sakura watched in fascination.

"It's beautiful." She whispered. Deidara looked back at her and she looked back at him.

"**Golden fuchsia**..." She murmured to herself. She tiptoed and planted a soft kiss onto Deidara's lips. "I like it."

Deidara smirked at her and bent down to her ear, brushing his lips softly against it.

"Beauty is fleeting..." He moved backwards and stared into her deep, jade eyes. "But I guess you're an exception." Sakura laughed and winced as a drop of water landed on her nose. Then another. Then another. She looked up and noticed **grey** clouds above her.

It started to rain heavily and the drops pattered loudly against the pavement. The **fiery** sun was still brightly shining in the clear, **blue** sky and Sakura watched, as just in front of Deidara and her, a **perfect rainbow** appeared. Just for them. A crash of thunder echoed around them.

"Bang." Deidara whispered. Sakura smiled.

"Bang..."

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